Trust
by Miranda Crystal-Bearer
Summary: Hiei wonders why Yusuke trusts him. The answer is surprisingly simple, he finds.
1. Author's Note

Hello!   
  
First Yu Yu Hakusho fic, yes-yes. I fear that neither Hiei nor Kurama are in character. Yusuke has no character, so it was easy to write him!   
  
But yeah. The fic takes place sometime during the Dark Tournament, after Genkai dies. I think it's their day of rest or whatnot. Hiei didn't give me details; he just told me to sit down and write in first person. So I did.  
  
Mind messages are like so: *.....*  
  
I do not own these characters. They just barge in and make me write stories. Oy vey. 


	2. Prolouge

Trust  
  
I look calmly across the sea. Its constant movement and glitter can be dizzying at times, especially during midday, which is now. I sigh and flick a pebble off the cliff. It takes off from beside me and soars several feet out, dropping slowly into the waves. Humans might say it dropped quickly. However, their sight is slow. Their sight can barely follow me at times, and at other times I am beyond it.  
  
I flick another pebble and watch its slow, arcing descent into the waves. The waves are loud against the cliff, but not loud enough to block out the voices of memory. I still hear them, and finally, allow myself to listen. I must, for otherwise they will not leave me alone, and peace is what I desire above all else. 


	3. Flashback

WARNING! This chapter is a flashback to the second episode with the Saint Beasts, the one where Kurama fights whatshisstoneface Genku. The dialouge is mostly from it, near as I can manage. Enjoy.  
  
The flying eyeball hit the lever. The grinding noise began. I, even with my sharp senses, could not find the source. It was Kurama who noticed it, and just in time. I have noticed that, despite his human form, his senses are those of a fox, sharper even than mine. Kurama shouted warning, and all of us reacted. The ceiling dropped, but did not crush us. It met up-raised palms, and was stayed by our combined strength. I cast a glance at the others. They were bent by the weight and the sudden, lowered height. I stood ramrod straight, pushing my short stature to at least partially equal theirs, unconsciously trying to help Kurama, if not Yusuke and Kuwabara as well.  
  
That annoying little monster rambled on, foolishly explaining all about this "Gate of Betrayal" we were trapped in. I measured the distance from where I stood to the lever, wondering if I could make it there before the heavy stone ceiling crushed Kurama and the others. I doubted it, and suddenly heard Kuwabara angrily shouting at the flying eyeball. He took a step, and the whole ceiling shuddered and lowered an inch.  
  
"Concentrate on the weight, you fool, or you'll kill us all!" I snapped, not quite panicked, but with a heart beating much faster than it should have at the near miss. I faintly heard the eyeball laugh. I was ignoring it, as it did not count as either a threat or a help. Not yet, anyway. There were more "pressing" matters on my hands.  
  
That eyeball rambled on for several long moments. I kept most of my attention focused on the weight, but a small part was watching the others, gauging the strength they were using and what they might have left.  
  
"Ignore that punk and stick together," Kuwabara growled. "Besides, if anyone tries to escape I swear I'll drag them back myself!" He shot a glare directly at me.  
  
"So you think it'd be noble for us to die as a team?" I snapped, intentionally trying to provoke him.  
  
"Yeah!" he replied, anger in his voice. The weight above us lifted almost imperceptibly. With the strength of anger, he could hold out longer.  
  
"Here's a thought! Let's just shut up and find a way out of here!" Yusuke snapped, desperation clear in his tone. His gaze was fixed on the lever. "Hey! Hiei!" I glanced at him. "You're a lot faster than any of us. We'll hold the ceiling up while you go pull the switch!"  
  
"Are you crazy? We can't trust that guy! Look, he doesn't care about any of us!" Kuwabara accused, glaring again.  
  
"Your ugly friend has a good point, detective." I paused, waiting for a reaction from Kuwabara.  
  
"Hey! Who's ugly? Come here, you mouse...." Predictably, an insult about my height.  
  
"I have already vowed my revenge on you. I might just take care of that now." I warned, meeting Yusuke's desperate gaze.  
  
*You wouldn't!* Kurama's horrified mind-message thrummed. I ignored it and waited for Yusuke's answer. It surprised me quite a bit.  
  
"I don't think quick death's your style." He concentrated his spirit energy and used it as strength. "I'll let out all the spirit power I have to buy us some time while you run to the switch. Just don't trip." I blinked in surprise as he smiled. "I trust you. Now go!" Despite the sudden shock I felt at his words, I gathered myself and shot off, gaining full speed within one stride.  
  
*You can't fool everyone, Hiei. I-* Kurama's thought to me was broken sharply off as the weight of the ceiling increased.  
  
The eyeball thing laughed, but stopped abruptly as I appeared beside it, hand extended for the switch. Apparently its eyesight was as bad as a human's. My fingers nearly closed around the switch, but stopped as the warrior's sixth sense moved, screaming of hidden danger. I hesitated, giving time to that sense to find more about the danger, and looked back at the three, using Kurama's desperate, frightened green gaze as strength to end my hesitation.  
  
"What's the deal? Pull the stupid switch already!" Kuwabara shouted.  
  
"No need to make snap decisions, my friend. What have they ever done for you?" the eyeball asked. "Come with me into the castle. You're smart. Join us. After their deaths the Four Saint Beasts will become rulers of the world. You could be the general of our demon army."  
  
"Stop hesitating and pull the switch! If it wasn't for our help you'd still be screaming with the rest of us!" Kuwabara shouted.  
  
I made a "snap decision" then, and chuckled as evilly as I could, turning away from the switch. There was a trap here, and perhaps, if I stalled long enough, that over-talkative eyeball would tell me. It babbled a lot for something that did not possess a physical mouth.  
  
"What are you laughing at?" Kuwabara shouted.  
  
"Take a guess, you fool," I answered, making sure my voice was silky calm. I forestalled Kurama's nigh-panicked protests in my mind with a wordless assurance. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the weight then.  
  
"Darn you!" Kuwabara snapped out, panic showing in his gaze. Yusuke's gaze, though frightened, held an amount of trust I'd only seen in Kurama.  
  
"You take pleasure in their pain," the eyeball purred. "Now imagine how wonderful their final screams will be!" It laughed as all evil does at the thought of destruction and pain.  
  
"Hiei!" Kuwabara shouted, in clear desperation. Yusuke's eyes still showed trust, even as the ceiling's weight forced him to his knees. Though I didn't show it, I too was getting desperate. If that eyeball didn't say anything soon I'd have to act, despite the crystal clear warning I was still getting.  
  
"A wise choice. The boulder would have crushed you anyway," the eyeball carelessly said.  
  
There! I could finally get rid of the thing. I jumped, reaching above it, hands on my katana. "Thanks for the clue!" I roared, drawing my blade and attacking in the same movement. I saw the damage and landed by the switch, swiftly lifting it. To my relief, the grinding noise of the machinery stopped, and Kurama's sudden thanks sped through my mind.  
  
Then the boulder dropped from its hidden crevice above. I heard Yusuke shout my name, but louder still was Kurama's mind shout, so loud I was surprised that the other two didn't hear it. As for me, the boulder fell slowly, and I neatly avoided it, perching on top to better adress the wounded eyeball. "Tell your masters this is their last chance to beg for mercy," I growled, feeling the comfortable weight of my katana in hand.  
  
As it flapped away, I jumped down from the boulder. Yusuke stopped bantering with Kuwabara and came up beside me. "You punk! You had me worried there," he confessed. "Such good acting! Not everyone can laugh while their friends are about to die."  
  
Irritated at his arm around my shoulder, acting so familiar, I shrugged it off and walked away a few paces. "Friends are just a crutch for the weak. I wasn't acting," I lied. "I only saved you because I thought you'd be useful during this fight." I ducked around the corner.  
  
"That's just his way of saying you're welcome. You will learn." Kurama's voice carried clearly to my ears. As always, he had seen right past the lies. Sometimes he was entirely too perceptive for my comfort. But right now, I was pleased with the way he interpreted for them. 


	4. Answer

I open my eyes again and look out across the waves. I wonder why Yusuke had been so trusting when I had only give him reason to hate me. Was it because he was stupid? Or was there another reason? He had incorrectly stated that quick death wasn't my style, but he had been completely right to trust me. I really had not thought of letting them die.  
  
*Why don't you go ask him?* Kurama's calm mind voice asks.   
  
I jump and half-rise, turning to face Kurama. I hate it when people sneak up on me, and usually I feel them before they even get close. But this time I had been too wrapped up in my own thoughts. Kurama smiles in apology and comes to sit beside me. I watch him closely. Every movement is one of grace and control, even the absent one of tossing his head to make his long red hair fall neatly behind his ears. As always, the essence of a true, trained warrior shows through this human form he wears.  
  
"Hmmph. Kurama, aren't you supposed to be training?" I ask gruffly. I am angry at how he had sneaked up on me.  
  
"I was," he answers simply, smiling. "I know why you don't ask him. You're too proud, Hiei. It wouldn't hurt you to ask a simple question, and it would save you many more hours of wondering." He kept his lucid green gaze on my face. I shrug uncomfortably beneath that gaze.   
  
I am merely a telepath. I can only see a person's working thoughts, those he actively thinks about. Kurama, however, can read any depth of anyone's mind, from working thoughts to deepest secrets. Knowing this, his intense eyes seem sharper, and make one think he can see their whole mind just by that green-eyed gaze.  
  
But he cannot read my mind. In seeing into other's thoughts, he leaves himself open for any perusal, and the deeper he searches, the more vulnerable he is. Only one aware of the workings of thoughts can know this, and I do. If Kurama ever tried to force secrets from me, I would be able to do the same to him, and he knows it. What he does not know, however, is that I would not take advantage of him in that way. So he is quite safe, though he does not know it. The threat keeps him away from my mind, at any rate.  
  
"You're afraid he might see through your act and know you're not the tough loner you seem, aren't you?" Kurama asks softly.  
  
I snort. "That idiot wouldn't know a demon from a human if Botan didn't tell him. And can't you keep your mouth shut?"  
  
Kurama grins. Despite the fact I am irritated, I haven't retreated. He knows it, and knows also that I am allowing him to coax things from me. I don't often let him do it. Although he is my friend, I prefer to keep silent. "Not at all. You know that. And you know Yusuke will answer you plainly if you ask."  
  
"Confound you, Kurama." I frown at him, and he smiles in his sly, brilliant way. "You are just as curious as I am. Why don't you ask him yourself?"  
  
"Because I don't lay awake at night and wonder," he answers gleefully, closing in for the kill. "Ask him, Hiei. It won't do any harm. It will do everyone some good."  
  
I hear the unspoken "especially you" at the end of his sentence. I waver, then let him chase me to a descion. "How did you know I thought about it at night?"  
  
Kurama laughs aloud. "Go ask him, Hiei. I believe he's in a clearing not too far from here." He points.  
  
I stand, dust off my robe, and nod to him before wandering off in the direction he pointed in, acting completely nonchalant. I hear his gentle chuckles wafting after me, rejoicing in having gotten me to consent to speak to Yusuke.  
  
Kurama has become a very good friend to me. At first, I chose him to be my partner out of fear and hatred. A strange combination, yes, and one that does not mix well. It began to come apart when I saw how easily his human body could be defeated. After I lost my fear, the hatred began to unravel. He was hardly better than I at fighting. His technique lacked finesse, for he depended on defense to let him understand his opponent's movements.  
  
Once both fear and hatred were gone, I began to enjoy his company. He saw right through my mask of a lone wolf, and was very friendly from the first. I discovered how lonely I had been, and how nice it is to have someone to depend on, who is quite willing to do anything without payment of any kind, and who will not turn upon me at every chance. I have also found that doing small things that make him smile make me smile as well. I am still learning the nuances of friendship, and though slowly, a strong bond has begun between us, strengthened quickly by the recent trials we've been through.  
  
I quietly think about this as I walk, expertly hiding these thoughts from Kurama's searching presence, which hangs in the back of my mind. My progress through the woods is silent. I reach the edge of a clearing, and pause. Yusuke's presence is strong, and I spot him easily. He is sitting cross-legged in the middle of the clearing, eyes closed, head bowed, hands in his lap. Meditating, I assume.  
  
He looks up when I approach, startled at my appearance. "Hey Hiei. Where's Kurama?"  
  
Of course he would ask for Kurama, who is determined to be known as my shadow. "Training, I believe. As you should be."  
  
"I was, until you showed up," he points out. I mentally flinch. "So, why are you here?" Ah, my opportunity arrives.  
  
"I came to ask you a question," I answer, nonchalantly.  
  
"The great Hiei is asking ME a question? Wow." Yusuke grins. "So what is it?"  
  
I frown, annoyed at his attitude, but forge on anyway. Might as well get it over with. "Why do you trust me?"  
  
He had not expected that, I see. He blinks and studies me for a moment. "Why do I trust you?" he repeats. I nod. "Why not? You're my friend. You act tough, but you're really a good guy." He grins cockily at me, then pauses and asks, "now why did you ask me that?"  
  
I shrug, turn, and start to walk away. I stop, however, when Yusuke calls after me.  
  
"Oh, and Hiei...." I glance over my shoulder at him, and he grins. "....Thanks."  
  
"For what?" I ask, puzzled.  
  
"For being my friend," he answers, simply, still with that smile on his face.  
  
I cannot help myself. I smirk and dart off at top speed, leaving him in the clearing. I keep my speed until I reach the cliff again, where Kurama is idly throwing rocks into the sea. He speaks without turning, apparently knowing I am there.  
  
"And so you asked?"  
  
"Yes," I answer, coming to sit beside him. For a moment there is a peaceful silence. I relish it.  
  
"And?" Kurama asks.  
  
"I got my answer," I reply, keeping my gaze on the ocean. After a moment, Kurama sighs.  
  
*You're not telling me, are you?*  
  
*Nope!*  
  
*You are stubborn, Hiei.*  
  
And with that, he falls to silence. There is peace, rich and cool, and I delightedly bask in it. There is also a warm companionship between Kurama and me, and this I also enjoy. There are few things in the world I value more than peace and Kurama's friendship. Very few things.  
  
My sister is one of them. 


End file.
